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“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.”– Josh Billings

We’ve known for a while that dog owners are more likely to be fitter humans, however we’ve never seen it as a prescriptive antidote for chronic diseases, like heart health…until now. The U.S.’s largest cardiovascular association, the American Heart Association (AHA), published a scientific consensus last week, after years of data and discussion about the cardiovascular effects of pet ownership. The group concluded that owning a dog, in particular, was “probably associated” with a reduced risk of heart disease. “Probably” in the land of research speaks volumes.

“We didn’t want to make this too strong of a statement,” said Dr. Glenn Levine, a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine and head of the committee that provided the message. “But there are plausible psychological, sociological and physiological reasons to believe that pet ownership might actually have a causal role in decreasing cardiovascular risk.” “Several studies showed that dogs decreased the body’s reaction to stress, with a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure and adrenaline-like hormone release when a pet is present as opposed to when a pet is not present,” Dr. Levine said.